The President of South Korea has declared a state of martial law, claiming in an unannounced late-night broadcast that the measure is required in order to defend the country against “pro-North Korean anti-state forces”.
South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported military directives banning parliamentary and political activities, while media and publishers are to be brought under the control of martial law command.
Yonhap News Agency is also reporting that members of the National Assembly have been blocked by riot police from accessing parliament, with footage circulating on social media that purports to show extensive police and military presence outside the assembly in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
According to reports, the leader of South Korean opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, has said the declaration of martial law is unconstitutional, while the leader of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s own party, Han Dong-hoon, has also come out against the declaration, describing it as “wrong”.
According to Yonhap News Agency, those who violate martial law can be arrested without a warrant.
It is the first time since 1980 that martial law was declared in South Korea.
President Yoon said that he had no choice but to declare martial law in order to “protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order”.
The president did not cite specifically which factions constituted pro-North Korean, anti-state forces, but has reportedly cited such elements in the past as undermining his governance.